EuroJuve Project. Make way for 4-2-3-1

May 27, 2013

2 minute read

He did not need to study the two teams that he knows very well, but Saturday night at Wembley Antonio Conte has witnessed with great interest the Champions League final between Heynckes and Klopp whom have deployed their formations with the 4-2-3-1, a module that Conte would like to propose with his Juve next season. The 3-5-2 will not be set aside, but in Europe the three-man defense is a solution little adopted and in any case by none of the strongest teams.

It’s too early now to assess how Conte will handle the rose, because the market could change heavily from the tactical point of view. But the idea of the coach is holding both options: three-man defense (to be used mainly in the league) and four (in UCL) to choose from, based on performance, games, on the opponents.

Pirlo? In the 3-5-2 Pirlo already knows everything: strengths and weaknesses. The deficiencies that Marotta and Paratici will attempt to resolve concerning the attack on the market (that’s why Juve, having already taken Llorente, is seeking a second striker and also a center forward) and wingers (particularly on the left, but also on the right if Lichtsteiner receives a rich offer). In the 3-5-2 Pirlo would continue to be central in every sense, who should manage the timing of the game. In 4-2-3-1, however, Pirlo could also stay out: it would be extremely difficult for him to perform the defensive tasks that are asked to the two central midfielders that are moving in the area in front of Buffon. For that role are perfect Vidal and Pogba, not surprisingly the only two players really unsellable of the rose.

Three purchases forward But what is missing to bring the 4-2-3-1 are the offensive wingers. Already in the season just ended Conte wanted to deploy at times the team with the 4-3-3, but the continuous unavailability of Pepe has forced the coach to insist on 3-5-2. Bayern won the Champions League with the plays of Ribery and Robben, Juve would at least try to have fun with two quality players that could start wide and then tighten and maybe even cross behind the first striker. In that position, according to open negotiations, Conte could place Alessandro Diamanti and Stevan Jovetic: good at dribbling, good shooters, one left-footed, the other right-footed.

Both are much cheaper than top-player around the world. Between the two, in a central position, would move Marchisio who has already held that position in the 3-5-1-1 with which Conte ended the season. The striker would be at this point Vucinic and Higuain in Juventus ambitious project. The Juventus market might just end with these three shots: Jovetic, Higuain and Diamanti. For a Juve with higher quality, for a Juve more European.